Warner Bros. Discovery has upped Vanessa Brookman to GM of kids, global streaming and international networks. 

Her expanded remit now includes developing global kids content franchises, and she will oversee both originals and commissions/acquisitions for this demo.  

Based in London, Brookman still reports to president of international Gerhard Zeiler, and she will also work closely with Michael Ouweleen, president of Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang and Discovery Kids and the US networks team. Her direct reports now include Pablo Zuccarino (GM of kids for WBD LatAm) and Chris Ho (VP of kids programming in APAC).

After working at MTV (VP of programming) and BBC Television (head of fiction and children’s) earlier in her career, Brookman joined WarnerMedia in 2015 and has primarily headed up content for the UK and Northern Europe content head since. For the past three years, she has served as head of kids for WBD EMEA. 

JB Perrette, WBD’s president and CEO of global streaming and games, announced Brookman’s promotion yesterday in an internal memo that also relayed news of a broader executive shuffle.

Meredith Gertler and Lisa Holme are both vacating their streaming-focused positions. Gertler, who’s been with the company for two decades, has recently been focused on HBO, Max and Discovery+, building global streaming content portfolios and plotting long-term content investment strategies. Holme previously worked at Hulu and joined Discovery in 2020 to oversee DTC strategy. In the wake of the merger, she shifted into a group SVP of global content strategy, merchandising and podcasts position at WBD Streaming.

To navigate these exits, WBD has added responsibility for content strategy/planning and EMEA acquisitions to Josh Walker’s remit as chief financial and strategy officer at WBD Streaming. And global chief marketing officer for DTC Pato Spagnoletto will now oversee content merchandising and scheduling with his marketing team.

In the internal memo, Perrette highlighted Brookman’s many years of TV market experience and noted that she will help steer the company’s ship during a challenging period. “We need to have more coordinated and strategic global leadership around our kids content, networks and brands for Streaming and Networks, as well as with other parts of WBD, including CP and Theatrical.”